Big Bend & Fla. news briefs

At 4:12 a.m Saturday six units from the Tallahassee Fire Department responded to a house fire on the 13400 block of Landmark Court.

Arriving at the scene, firefighters dealt with flames venting through the roof of the double-wide mobile home. Approximately half of the structure was involved, according to TFD. TFD used an interior attack to stop the fire from progressing to the other half of the home.

There were no injuries reported at the scene. The American Red Cross provided assistance to the displaced residents.

The State Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause of the fire.

$2.26M Marion Co. wrongful death jury award upheld

OCALA – A federal judge has upheld a jury’s $2.26 million wrongful death award against the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in a case where two deputies shot and repeatedly shocked a suspect.

The Ocala Star-Banner reports that U.S. District Court Judge William Terrell Hodges upheld the jury’s verdict finding that the deputy who used a stun gun on the mortally wounded Joshua Salvato used excessive and objectively unreasonable force.The 21-year-old Salvato died July 6, 2012 during a physical struggle with deputies Lauren Miley and Norman Brown in Summerfield.

Salvato had fought Brown and Miley after attempts to question him about reports that he had been acting oddly and shouting at traffic.

Jamaican guilty in sex traffic case

MIAMI – A Jamaican man has been convicted by a South Florida jury of numerous charges related to an international sex trafficking case that involved women from the U.S., Middle East and Australia.

Damion St. Patrick Baston faces between 15 years and life in prison after his conviction last week on 21 criminal counts. Baston is to be sentenced Sept. 5.

1 dead after domestic fight

FORT LAUDERDALE – Investigators say a man is dead after being shot by an off-duty Fort Lauderdale police officer.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office reports Richard Arruda and his girlfriend Christine Menatti pulled into the parking lot of the popular Maguires Hill 16 restaurant in Fort Lauderdale Friday evening.

Officials say the couple had gotten into a physical altercation inside the vehicle.

Officer Mark Shotwell had just left the restaurant when Menatti approached him and asked for help, telling him her boyfriend had battered her. According to detectives, Arruda left the car and shot the officer.

Investigators say Shotwell reached for his weapon and fired, fatally shooting Arruda. Shotwell was taken to a nearby hospital in critical but stable condition.